Like I said...lentils. They're full of protein, easy to cook and dirt cheap. Dried beans are the same.

If you want milk for cooking, like to make the corn chowder suggested or potato soup or to help flavor the oatmeal, etc, buy some cheap powdered milk. Mix it up and voila! You have milk for cooking. It's not the tastiest for drinking, but it's great for cooking.

kk~

Have you looked at the dollar store for food? My dollar store has alot of food, some of it's really great (the garlic roasted fries were a good find!), and it's all only $1.

^ Yeah, my local food store also has a dollar section and I buy a lot there. They have tons of different types of beans in that section which are good for protein and very filling. You can cheaply make mexican style meals with the beans all you need is some salsa or taco sauce and tortillas, which you can get a bunch of at a very low cost.

Another food to look into is quinoa which is a grain but also has a lot of protein and other nutrients. Sort of like a healthier type of rice. I basically live on it and just use it as a staple with other foods, including the beans, but also mixed in with soups, etc. A bag of quinoa goes a long way, trust me... I know what it's like trying to eat really cheaply.

Everyone's given good suggestions with recipes, coupons, dollar-store ideas etc. so I don't have anything else to add. I'm going to make one suggestion that might be vastly unpopular, and might result from irreconcilable cultural differences... I think you should, at this point, not hit the food pantry or church charities. It seems like you have a mother and boyfriend in the picture. Unless they're in dire financial straits on their own, ask them for help first. Even if it's not for money outright, but to have you over for dinner, or allowing you to raid the pantry as someone else suggested, that can go a long way. That's what families are for, they help each other out when they can. Turning 18 doesn't mean that you've lost all ties to the family unit, and (at least in my culture-- Indian) your family has slightly more obligation to feed you than a random family you don't know does (which is exactly who's feeding you if you go to the charities). I know that my mom would be appalled if I went to a charity before asking her for help. If possible, let the charities feed the truly needy people who have absolutely no friends or family who can help, and absolutely no way of supporting themselves.

I hope this isn't offensive in any way. I think in many cultures the family unit is stronger than it is in the US, and families continue to help each other out throughout their lives. It doesn't matter what age someone is-- if one person genuinely needs assistance of any sort and another in the family is able to provide it, they do it without second thought.

^Mendel--I quite agree. I have worked for several non-profit agencies that often helped out food banks and whatnot, and I just don't feel like I'm at that point yet. I mean yeah, do I go to bed feeling hungry some nights? Yeah. But did I have at LEAST one meal that day? Sure did. There are small children that didn't get that, and I just can't find it in me to do it right now. May be I have a hard time taking help from people I don't know. My family's in a tough position too, but they can help me a little, and a little is a lot right now.
--By the way, I am very much obsessed with Indian culture, I am studying cultural psychology and part of the data for my thesis will be collected in Mumbai /random tangent

Also, thank you guys all so much, this information is invaluable. I will definitely look into dollar stores as well. I also want to look into quinoa, I really, REALLY need to up my protein. I've heard of it but never tried it. Is it quite similar to rice? And it's cheap?

There is also a Big Lots in the next town over, for those of you familiar with it, and they have some food items as well, I might check that out.

Seriously, thanks guys.


Edit: Almost forgot...lentils. I know this is stupid, but I've never had them. What do they taste like? Just kind of bean-like?

^Wow, a trip to Mumbai! I'm jealous. That's where my family is from (I grew up in the US). Last time I was there was 20 years ago, when it was still called "Bombay!"

I speak the local language (Marathi) fluently, and am in contact with my extended family there (many have visited the US), so feel free to contact me with any questions.

There are a lot of veggie Indian recipes that use lentils. I can't really describe what they taste like, I guess the taste varies a lot depending on the type and how they're prepared. Any recipe calling for "dal" uses lentils, I'm sure you could search online for some. Unfortunately I don't have any recipes to share because I don't really use a recipe while cooking, I just guesstimate the amount of each ingredient. You'll have better luck with a cookbook or online recipe.

Yeah, lentils are hard to describe...just like a very mild flavor. I use them in soups a lot. Or I make a lentil salad...

That breakfast bar recipe sounds really good, I think I'm going to copy that...also using lentils in the tacos sound good and I read something somewhere else tonight about using them like instead of beef in a sloppy joe. I second (or third haha) all the bean suggestions and we use dried and they are cheaper, and healthier in my opinion though can be a pain because of the soaking that the larger beans need.

You could mix that corn with some black beans, that's always good...as some mentioned, the beans and rice. Beans are good protein. Eggs are a good protein. You could put the boiled eggs that you will eat with the potatoes after boiling them for a potato salad, add mayo if you like it.

Also like others mentioned, the pasta dishes. I used to buy the canned sauce/tomatoes because I think it may have been cheaper. You could put cheese on top of pasta and sauce and bake it.

Frozen fruit and a big tub of yogurt in the blender for smoothies. Add over-ripe bananas as some mentioned. Some others have mentioned, the day old bread from the bakery is a good idea.

If you do any cooking or baking, I save money by making my own pizza dough or making my own like muffins or breads, like pumpkin bread, apple bread, etc. Sometimes after making these things I'll think about it and realize it only costed me like fifty cents to make what I did.

Get on supercook.com and tell it what you have on hand and it will give you recipes using your ingredients. It's very helpful when you're tired of the same old thing and can't afford to go out and buy ingredients for a gourmet meal. It might suggest a combination you hadn't thought of yet to break the monotony without actually using any different ingredients.

Two additional thoughts.

First, check out the bulletin boards or the college work study boards and find a baby sitting job a few evenings a week. Lots of moms go to school in the evening and need someone to give the kids dinner and put them to bed. You'll have a few extra dollars, and of course, eat with the kids.

The second...your cans of Slim Fast. Ice cream and other treats will not be on your shopping list for a while. Freeze the Slim Fast in ice cube trays. A few frozen cubes at the end of the day will taste great.

Keep On Dancing*

You do realize that Slim Fast is made with milk, right?

Yeah, I basically just can't stand to drink it straight or when it's really...obvious? Haha, it's more of a quirk than anything. Like, I don't really like to eat ice cream because when it starts to melt it gets that milk-like taste/consistency. I will eat things that are made with milk, for example, my mom just made pancakes and french toast. So I would probably make things that called for dry milk and whatnot.

It may not help you this month, but as a longer term strategy, you might want to consider a Costco or Sam's Club membership. You may be able to chip in with someone. They have a lot of dry foods in bulk and Costco in particular has decent veggies and fruits at prices below the regular food stores. There is another similar type of place called BJ's Club but I've never been in one. If you are in or near any sort of sizable city in the US/Canada there should be one of those places nearby.

Jon

Chaconne wrote:

It may not help you this month, but as a longer term strategy, you might want to consider a Costco or Sam's Club membership. You may be able to chip in with someone. They have a lot of dry foods in bulk and Costco in particular has decent veggies and fruits at prices below the regular food stores. There is another similar type of place called BJ's Club but I've never been in one. If you are in or near any sort of sizable city in the US/Canada there should be one of those places nearby.

Jon

To that end, ask around and see if someones got a membership card you can use. I have my grammas sams card, so I don't have a membership of my own, but I get to go when I need.